May 19, 2016 [OPIS] - Capital Terminal Company (CTC) of East Providence, R.I., a wholly owned subsidiary of Capital Properties Inc. (CPI), said on Wednesday that it has the capability to expand its oil products storage portfolio to include gasoline, ethanol and other petroleum liquids.
The 1-million-bbl-capacity Providence terminal can only store distillates right now.
OPIS notes that Sprague is the sole tenant of that New England terminal for now, but Sprague’s contract with CTC will expire in April 2017. Prior to Sprague coming on in 2014, Total had occupied that Providence terminal for eight months. Sprague and CTC have not begun negotiations on a contract renewal so far, opening doors possibly for other new tenants to use that facility.
Global Partners had occupied that terminal in 2013.
CTC said that it has received final approval from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) Office of Air Resources for a minor source permit for the storing and distribution of gasoline, ethanol and other petroleum liquids requiring floating roofs at its above-ground petroleum terminal.
The minor source permit allows for the conversion of six tanks from distillate storage to gasoline and/or ethanol storage. The conversion of the existing tanks and truck loading rack to handle gasoline will require the installation of loating roofs, a vapor recovery unit, and modifications to the internal distribution piping.
The permit allows for the annual distribution of about 7.5 million bbl of ethanol blended gasoline through the truck loading rack.
CTC’s terminal currently consists of a 1-million-bbl distillate facility with a modern eight-bay, 19-position truck loading rack. The conversion will reduce the overall shell barrel capacity of the terminal by about 8% to 10% to 900,000-930,000 bbl due to height restriction of floating roofs at the tanks.
The actual final total reconfigured capacity at the terminal will depend on which tanks would be converted to gasoline, Todd Turcotte, president of CTC, told OPIS.
The terminal has permits to store up to 600,000 bbl of gasoline, leaving about 300,000 bbl for distillates. However, the final products ratio will be customer driven, he said.
Turcotte said that feedback from the market has conveyed a need for gasoline storage at Providence in addition to distillates.
The facility is currently served via two 16-inch-diameter pipelines from a deep-water ship/barge berth with a depth of -40 MLW and a LOA of 825 feet. The facility has the capability to develop adjacent rail access for loading and/or unloading of product.
